So my post a few days ago caused quite a response. And I took everyone’s advice and went back to my GP to review medications and pain relief.
I told my doctor exactly what I told my RA nurse, that I’d been taking paracetamol for over 10 years, every day. My GP had the same reaction as my RA nurse... concerned look, pinched face, and a gasp. For goodness sake.
She agreed that it’s likely I have MOH (medication overuse headache) and wants me to slowly reduce and then stop taking the paracetamol. But of course, I then burst into tears saying “so what do I do about pain?” She read through my notes, looked all the things I currently take, and have taken in the past, what pain meds haven’t worked and what I can’t take because of my asthma.
And she decided to prescribe Gabapentin, at the lowest dose possible. She said that my recent diagnosis of Fibromyalgia (on top of the RA) is a real illness and that this drug could possibly help with the pain and sleep. But of course it might be as awful as my reaction to the Amitriptylene. So I shall let you know. X